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Playing in Peterborough is like coming home for Brampton Battalion captain Cody Hodgson.

"Peterborough is my favourite rink in the OHL to play in," said the 19-year-old. "It's the closest place to my hometown in Haliburton, where I grew up. Whenever (Brampton) would visit, about half the people there were from Haliburton, so I really like the atmosphere."

Hodgson was understandably excited when the Peterborough Petes (28-37-1-2 59) snuck into the seventh spot of Eastern Conference playoffs, the perfect opposition for his No.2-ranked Battalion (47-19-1-1).

But the Petes won't exactly be rolling out the welcome mat for Hodgson.

"He's a world-class player and a big part of their offence," said Petes forward Ryan Spooner.

"Our focus will be to keep the puck away from him as much as we can."

Hodgson, whose family eventually moved to Markham, said the Battalion can't afford to write off the Petes when their series starts tonight at the Powerade Centre.

"We're definitely not going to take them lightly," said the 6-foot, 188-pound centre.

"But if we play the way we know we're capable of, we shouldn't have a problem."

And on paper, the Battalion shouldn't. They've been one of the top teams in the league and many have them pegged to at least appear in the conference final.

But the Battalion have faltered in past playoffs – having never made it past the second round despite icing a number of talented teams. Hodgson has seen his Battalion ousted early the last two years by the Barrie Colts, a trend he doesn't expect to repeat.

"Those two years were pretty disappointing, but this year we have a whole different dynamic and it's a different atmosphere," said the Vancouver Canucks prospect.

As the team's top scorer, the amiable Hodgson has been a key contributor to setting that new tone.

Despite being away with Team Canada's gold medal-winning junior squad for part of the season, Hodgson finished fourth in OHL scoring with 43 goals and 49 assists in 53 games.

He was a force in helping Brampton sweep the Petes 4-0 in their regular-season series, counting four goals and six assists.

"We've had good success against them," said Hodgson of the Petes. "Obviously shutting down (forward Zack) Kassian's line is important and getting lots of shots on their big goaltender (6-foot-8 Jason Missiaen) with lots of traffic."

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